Lincoln Heights

Robert Samuels: It only took a phone call in 2005 to persuade then-D.C. Council member Vincent C. Gray to push for the inclusion of the Lincoln Heights housing project and the surrounding area in his home district as part of the city's bold new urban renewal strategy. Nothing has been that easy since.

By now, the 440 low-income families that lived in Lincoln Heights should have moved into new replacement housing in the neighborhood. But only 32 families have been placed.

By now, almost all of the units in this aging complex of brick buildings in the Northeast community of Deanwood should have been demolished. Instead, city housing officials, who have lost confidence in the project, are…